Boston Globe Op-Ed From the Mass. AG Shows How Little She Knows About Guns

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has essentially blamed our country’s violent crime problems on firearms she calls “weapons of war” that Americans have the right to buy and sell here in the United States.

In an op-ed for The Boston Globe, Healey addressed what she called a “loophole” in the Massachusetts assault weapons ban that made it possible for citizens to buy semi-automatic firearms (like the AR-15) despite a ban on specifically-named firearms and features that define an “assault weapon” under Massachusetts law. Healy claimed that gun manufacturers and owners were misinterpreting the term “copy-cat” and were making and selling illegal guns and had been for more than 30 years.

Of course that’s why she felt it necessary to take it upon herself to go around the law… you know, to correct it.

In part, she wrote:

The Massachusetts assault weapons ban mirrors the federal ban Congress allowed to expire in 2004. It prohibits the sale of specific weapons like the Colt AR-15 and AK-47 and explicitly bans “copies or duplicates” of those weapons. But gun manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to define what a “copy” or “duplicate” weapon is. They market “state compliant” copycat versions of their assault weapons to Massachusetts buyers. They sell guns without a flash suppressor or folding or telescoping stock, for example, small tweaks that do nothing to limit the lethalness of the weapon.

That will end now. On Wednesday, we are sending a directive to all gun manufacturers and dealers that makes clear that the sale of these copycat assault weapons is illegal in Massachusetts. With this directive, we will ensure we get the full protection intended when lawmakers enacted our assault weapons ban, not the watered-down version of those protections offered by gun manufacturers.

The directive specifically outlines two tests to determine what constitutes a “copy” or “duplicate” of a prohibited weapon. If a gun’s operating system is essentially the same as that of a banned weapon, or if the gun has components that are interchangeable with those of a banned weapon, it’s a “copy” or “duplicate,” and it is illegal. Assault weapons prohibited under our laws cannot be altered in any way to make their sale or possession legal in Massachusetts.

The rifles she references are, or were,“state compliant” however since she doesn’t know the difference, she chose to abuse her power and absurdly reinterpret the law rather than educating herself on firearms or the Constitution.

The people of Massachusetts didn’t vote for her “interpretation” of the law, but the AG clearly thinks she doesn’t answer to the people. Her “moral obligation” to the authoritarian call for gun control far exceeds her willingness to follow the people’s will.